Warrior

Prologue

     "Wake up... Wake up, we need to go," I could hear the panic in her voice as mother shook me awake. I opened my eyes to an almost pitch black room. The only light was an orange glow that was coming from behind the curtain. Mother was rushing round my room throwing clothes and shoes in my direction as she dug out the small bag from under my bed. It had been packed for months.

They were coming for us.

     I sat bolt up right as I realized why she sounded so panicked and shoved on the items of clothing she'd tossed towards me. Mother handed me the small bag, picked up her own bag and lead me out of my room and down the stairs. We met my father and older brother in the hallway, they too had bags. That's when we heard the huge bang on the front door. It sounded like a gun shot and it was frightening.

     The door came away from its hinges and crashed to the ground just inches from where we stood. We all jumped back reflexively. Mother and father pushed me and my brother behind them, shielding us. In the door way stood a man, he was tall and had scars all over his face. He sneered as he caught sight of the four of us.

     He carried a sword in his right hand which was idly dangling at his side. In his left hand he was holding a torch, making sure that it was far enough away from him so he didn't burn himself. "Well, what do we have here?" He jeered in a deep voice as he picked his way over the fallen door to where we stood.

     As he moved towards us, we cautiously retreated away from him. There was a plaque of two crossed swords hanging on the wall nearby. I saw my father's eyes flicker towards them then quickly look away. "This is private property, I order you to leave immediately," Father demanded, as he straightened up.

     "Oh, but no can do, you see I've been ordered to slaughter all the pests in this town," The Intruder remarked, and with that he lifted up his blade and lunged towards us.

     Father dashed forward, grabbing hold of the swords on the wall, he yanked them out of their holder. In the same instance, mother shoved me and my brother towards the backdoor trying to move us out of harms way.

 I heard a resonating clank as metal hit metal.

     Father kicked The Intruder in the stomach, sending him crumpling to the floor. He quickly handed mother one of the swords and they stood side by side, determined to fight until the end. Father had been taught how to fight with a sword when he was a child, it was a skill he'd never forgotten. After my parents had gotten married, he'd taught mother in case she was ever in danger.

     Two more men had appeared at the door now, they all had swords. The Intruder stood up, shaking himself off. "We have some resisters here boys, looks like we need to teach them a little lesson," he goaded. The men scrambled through the door with eager looks upon their faces.

     My mother turned towards me and my brother, "Get as far away from here as you can... Go on... Run!" I was frozen in fear, staring at my parents, scared about what was about to happen. As the men reached my parents, the fighting began and it all became a blur to me.

Two against three, those odds were good, right? 

     I watched as The Intruder swiped the sword out of my fathers hand with his own. Father stumbled to pick it up but was too slow. The Intruder kicked fathers sword and sent it spinning away from them. Pleased that my father was unarmed, the Intruder plunged his sword through his chest.

     Mother let out an agonized scream as she watched the light fade out of father's eyes. In the brief moment that her guard was down, one of the other men thrust his sword into her back, cutting off her scream. She collapsed to the ground. Having seen enough, my brother tugged harshly at my arm, making me move. He threw open the backdoor to find another man standing outside, sword raised in the air.